1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hook-and-eye assembly composed of a hook and an eye each attachable to a fabric by means of a fastener having two rivetable prongs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hook-and-eye assemblies of metal are composed of a hook and an eye which are attached to fabric materials by means of prongs integral therewith. One such hook-and-eye assembly is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 53-28567 published on July 18, 1978. The disclosed hook is of a U shape composed of spaced face and back plates, the face plate having a pressed ridge projecting toward the back plate for engaging the eye to guard against accidental separation of the hook-and-eye assembly.
With the disclosed arrangement, however, only one ridge is formed on the face plate and cannot stably retain the eye in engagement with the hook. More specifically, there are sometimes employed two hook-and-eye assemblies on one piece of garment such as ski pants. When the user attempts to couple one hook-and-eye assembly after the other hook-and-eye assembly has been connected, the other joined hook-and-eye assembly tends to be disengaged due to a force applied by the user to assemble said one hook-and-eye assembly.
Another known hook-and-eye assembly is composed of a hook and an eye which are attached to garment fabrics by means of independent fasteners, respectively, having eyelets or prongs. This hook-and-eye structure has found wider use since it is more easier to manufature than those which have integral fasteners, and the hook and the eye can be made of an inexpensive metal such as iron. The hook-and-eye assembly with the eyelet fasteners is revealed in Japanese Design Registration No. 586152-Similar Design 1. The hook-and-eye assembly with two-prong fasteners is disclosed in British Patent No. 1014390.
The hook-and-eye assembly with the eyelet fasteners is disadvantageous in that since the eyelet fasteners are cylindrical, the hook and the eye are liable to turn with respect to the fasteners and fabrics, and the cylindrical eyelet fasteners when they pierce the fabrics pull fabric threads to cut them off or cause the fabrics to wrinkle. When staking the eyelet fasteners on the hook and the eye, the distal ends of the eyelet fasteners are forcibly spread radiall outwardly and pressed against the hook and the eye. If the distal ends of the eyelet fasteners were pressed with a weak force, the hook and the eye would be turned easily under a small force. If the eyelet fasteners were pressed with too a strong force, they would damage the fabrics. Since the eyelet fasteners as they are fastened form holes in the fabrics, any subsequence eyelet fastener which may be attached as a replacement must be carefully positioned in alignment with the hole which has been formed in the fabric by the preceeding eyelet fastener. Another shortcoming is as follows: When the eye and the hook are coupled together, the portion of the eye which engages the hook is substantially aligned with the center of a hole in the eye in which the eyelet fastener is inserted. A lateral pull applied to the engaging portion of the eye acts to turn the eye with respect the eyelet and hence the fabric, with the consequence that the radially outwardly curled distal end of the eyelet fastener will tend to be raised out of fastening engagement with the eye.
The two-prong fasteners each have two tapered prongs which are pressed to attach the hook or eye to the fabric. If the force imposed to stake the fastener were too small, the attached fastener would wobble in use. Additionally, it has been tedious and time-consuming to assemble the eye and its two-prong fastener together.